Nigerian banks on Tuesday started dispensing old N500 and N1,000 notes to their customers but some traders and transporters were rejecting them, saying they needed to hear from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) or President Muhammadu Buhari.
The Supreme Court had on Friday ruled that the old N500 and N1,000 notes should remain legal tender till December 31, 2023.
BusinessDay’s findings showed that the traders and commercial transporters were demanding clarity from President Buhari or Godwin Emefiele, the CBN governor, on the issue, even as some banks hsve complied with the ruling and have commenced recirculating the old N500 and N1,000 notes via ATMs and over the counter.
“I won’t accept the old N500 and N1,000 because neither the President nor the CBN has made any statement since the ruling,” said Aisha Bakare, a food provision trader at Mile 12 Market, Lagos.
“When they wanted to recirculate the old N200 note, the president addressed the country and made a statement. He or CBN has to do the same thing for the old N500 and N1,000 notes before I will start accepting them,” she added.
Bamidele Adeniyi, a mechanic at Owode Market in Mile 12, Lagos, said he withdrew the old N500 from an ATM on Monday but a bus driver refused to collect it from him on Tuesday.
“I boarded a bus this morning and paid with the old notes, but the conductor asked the driver to stop the bus and ask me to come down because they will not accept the money,” he said. “I had to trek from Mile 12 to Owode because I do not have any other money apart from the old N500 notes I withdrew from the ATM yesterday.”
“Who appointed the judges at the Supreme Court? Is it not the President, so his word supersedes that of the Supreme Court,” said Shade Olajide, a food provision trader at Ketu Market, Lagos. “He has to address Nigerians to clarify the issue before I will accept the old N500 and N1,000.”
However, some traders have started accepting the old N500 and N1,000 notes but are selling their products at a higher price.
“I am accepting the old N500 and N1,000 but at a higher price because I know that with time people will start collecting it,” said Anthony Okechukwu, a spare part dealer at Owode Market, Lagos.
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“If you are to buy goods worth N2,000, you will pay N2,500 if you are paying with old N500 and N1,000 notes, and N2,000 with the new notes or old N200 notes,” he said.
Uju Ogubunka, president of Bank Customers Association of Nigeria, said the Supreme Court is the highest court of the land and that it’s decision should be obeyed.
He said it is wise for the Federal Government or the CBN to make pronouncements to ease off tensions.
“There should not be confusion. If the highest court has decided that the old high-value naira notes remained legal tender until December 31, 2023, I think that is what it should be,” he said. “The government should make a pronouncement. Their silence could mean that they are refusing to obey the court of the land.”
Our reporters visited banks at Festac and Mazamaza in Lagos and found that some bank branches were paying customers with the old notes. One of the banks in Festac paid up to N20,000 per transaction.
BusinessDay could not get comments from the CBN as at press time because calls to its spokesman was unsuccessful.
